Investors pin hopes on Putin’s reform agenda

June 05 2012

Natalia Mikhaylenko

The high levels of capital flight suggest local investors are unconvinced about the prospects for serious structural and economic reform under President Putin, which is widely viewed as essential if Russia is to maintain its current rate of economic growth. And their scepticism is not without foundation. The Russian authorities’ track record of reform has been chequered, with periods of very positive movement (notably 1992 to 1995 and 2000 to 2003) being the exception rather than the norm.